Ok, so for some reason the word grace had been in my spirit lately. I went to dictionary.com and looked up the word just to see what it meant. According to dictionary.com, grace is defined as the following from a theological standpoint:
a. The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
b. The influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
c. The virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces.
d. Also called the state of grace, the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.
Grace in my opinion means to extend favor toward a situation in which it is undeserved or unmerited. In the classroom, if a student has shown effort in the time period toward their work and takes pride in it, then I am more likely to extend grace to that student, though they may not necessarily deserve it.
Why is it that we find it so hard to extend grace to others? Do we honestly feel that we are owed that much that we are not in a position to extend grace to others? Just a random thought...maybe I will expound on it as I walk the walk....
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Broken Building
I had a dream 4 years ago that I still remember very vividly to this day. In my dream, I saw how over a short period of time, a building under which I was standing crumbled. The thing is, nothing catastrophic happened. It was a simple crack in the pillars that held the building together that crumbled one by one. The amazing thing is that the dream never showed the building being reconstructed, and I have never had another dream like it.
That dream though it was brief, however brief showed me a few things. It took a brief time for the building to crumble. In the body of Christ, if we are not constantly feeding ourselves with the Word, then our spiritual lives will crumble. This is not to sound super spiritual, but to state fact. It happens even in the workplace. If an employee works in a company where they are not being nurtured properly, they will wither and die, or they will find other means of recourse. We must constantly check to ensure that we are growing and moving forward. This requires work because we have to look inside ourselves to do so and face some hard truths about ourselves.
Secondly, the crumbling of the building was not an overnight one. Buildings do not fall without notice. In other words, there are signs associated with the process. In either situation, dissatisfaction is one of the biggest red flags that can be thrown. If a person constantly complains, then there lies a cause of their complaint, and chances are they are not happy with their current situation.
It takes longer for a building to be rebuilt than one that was torn down. My dream never showed this part, yet I know that this is a process. One of my church members built a restaurant in about 4 months. Yet, there were tornadoes in my town that destroyed houses. While the houses were rebuilt, it was a process to reconstruct things to the way they once were. It was a process to restore those things to their rightful place. I had a situation occur in my professional life that shook me to my core. While I have since picked up the pieces and moved forward, there are still some places that have to be rebuilt. The trouble is, I didn't know those areas needed to be rebuilt. I just knew that something was missing and I couldn't put my finger on what it was. That's when the impact hit me full throttle.
While the tornado victims' homes were rebuilt, it may be a day where they are looking for something that they lost in that tragedy before it hits them the impact of what has happened to them in the storm. However, the tornado victims had an advantage: they were determined to pick up the pieces and do the work to restore their homes to their rightful place. If only we were so grateful for the grace of God here, because He does it for us. We just get so wrapped up in the social constructs of what has happened to us that we feel it is hard to rebuild the buildings that have been torn down in our lives. We simply have to remember our foundation and move from there. In my dream, the foundation was never shaken. As I move, I intend to remember my true foundation and continue from there.
That dream though it was brief, however brief showed me a few things. It took a brief time for the building to crumble. In the body of Christ, if we are not constantly feeding ourselves with the Word, then our spiritual lives will crumble. This is not to sound super spiritual, but to state fact. It happens even in the workplace. If an employee works in a company where they are not being nurtured properly, they will wither and die, or they will find other means of recourse. We must constantly check to ensure that we are growing and moving forward. This requires work because we have to look inside ourselves to do so and face some hard truths about ourselves.
Secondly, the crumbling of the building was not an overnight one. Buildings do not fall without notice. In other words, there are signs associated with the process. In either situation, dissatisfaction is one of the biggest red flags that can be thrown. If a person constantly complains, then there lies a cause of their complaint, and chances are they are not happy with their current situation.
It takes longer for a building to be rebuilt than one that was torn down. My dream never showed this part, yet I know that this is a process. One of my church members built a restaurant in about 4 months. Yet, there were tornadoes in my town that destroyed houses. While the houses were rebuilt, it was a process to reconstruct things to the way they once were. It was a process to restore those things to their rightful place. I had a situation occur in my professional life that shook me to my core. While I have since picked up the pieces and moved forward, there are still some places that have to be rebuilt. The trouble is, I didn't know those areas needed to be rebuilt. I just knew that something was missing and I couldn't put my finger on what it was. That's when the impact hit me full throttle.
While the tornado victims' homes were rebuilt, it may be a day where they are looking for something that they lost in that tragedy before it hits them the impact of what has happened to them in the storm. However, the tornado victims had an advantage: they were determined to pick up the pieces and do the work to restore their homes to their rightful place. If only we were so grateful for the grace of God here, because He does it for us. We just get so wrapped up in the social constructs of what has happened to us that we feel it is hard to rebuild the buildings that have been torn down in our lives. We simply have to remember our foundation and move from there. In my dream, the foundation was never shaken. As I move, I intend to remember my true foundation and continue from there.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The Butterfly Effect
One of the things I have always found interesting is how one event, one action, one thought or perception can change or alter life as you know it. As adults we often say we want others to be honest with us regarding decisions that are made. But when we receive information and are forced to make a decision, are we really prepared for the consequences that follow? Is the practice of accountability for one's actions truly in place?
I just learned that someone was dismissed for actions that took place outside their normal routine. What's shocking is not the dismissal but the expectation that one would not be held to a standard as to have discipline and respect for their position. Have we become so jaded that this is our norm? To expect that what goes on in privacy has no effect on the light?
In any event, be it personal or professional, perception holds a lot of weight behind events that take place. The irony is that perception is just that, PERCEPTION. At some point in time, one has to step outside themselves and look at the larger picture. For the employee that was dismissed, did that person ever think that a small action would have such a large effect? At what point do we actually look at the consequences of our actions?
A while back, I watched the movie, The Butterfly Effect. The movie focuses on small decisions that have a large impact on the lives of the characters. The crux of the movie is focused on trying to get things back to the way they were originally. The interesting thing is, they never return. The parallel is the same with life. All we have are choices and decisions that lead to more choices and decisions. They all have consequences. We must be willing and able to live with whatever comes our way. To do that, we must be deliberate in our actions. This is a lesson I am learning. I am the person that 'shoots first and asks questions later' and some situations are not as black and white. We have a moral responsibility, an obligation to show decency and courtesy toward one another, otherwise our decisions are one after another, creating chaos.
I just learned that someone was dismissed for actions that took place outside their normal routine. What's shocking is not the dismissal but the expectation that one would not be held to a standard as to have discipline and respect for their position. Have we become so jaded that this is our norm? To expect that what goes on in privacy has no effect on the light?
In any event, be it personal or professional, perception holds a lot of weight behind events that take place. The irony is that perception is just that, PERCEPTION. At some point in time, one has to step outside themselves and look at the larger picture. For the employee that was dismissed, did that person ever think that a small action would have such a large effect? At what point do we actually look at the consequences of our actions?
A while back, I watched the movie, The Butterfly Effect. The movie focuses on small decisions that have a large impact on the lives of the characters. The crux of the movie is focused on trying to get things back to the way they were originally. The interesting thing is, they never return. The parallel is the same with life. All we have are choices and decisions that lead to more choices and decisions. They all have consequences. We must be willing and able to live with whatever comes our way. To do that, we must be deliberate in our actions. This is a lesson I am learning. I am the person that 'shoots first and asks questions later' and some situations are not as black and white. We have a moral responsibility, an obligation to show decency and courtesy toward one another, otherwise our decisions are one after another, creating chaos.
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